Method for deforming a web

ABSTRACT

Methods for forming discrete deformations in web materials are disclosed. In some embodiments, the method involves feeding a web into an apparatus having nips that are formed between intermeshing rolls. The apparatus may be in the form of nested or other arrangements of multiple rolls, in which the web is maintained in substantial contact with at least one of the rolls throughout the process, and at least two of the rolls define two or more nips thereon with other rolls. In some embodiments, rolls can be used to expose a different side of the web for a subsequent deformation step. In these or other embodiments, the rolls can be used to transfer the web between rolls in such a manner that it may offset the rolls and/or web so that subsequent deformations are formed at a different cross-machine direction location than prior deformations.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/879,567, filed Sep. 10, 2010 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,557,169.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to deformed web materials andapparatuses and methods for deforming a web to create such materials.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various methods and apparatuses for deforming webs are disclosed in thepatent literature. Patents disclosing such methods include: U.S. Pat.No. 4,189,344, Busker; U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,336, Sabee; U.S. Pat. No.4,609,518, Curro; U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,679, Weber; U.S. Pat. No.5,562,645, Tanzer; U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,999, Kamps; U.S. Pat. No.5,779,965, Beuether, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,696, Schone; U.S. Pat.No. 6,332,955, Meschenmoser; U.S. Pat. No. 6,739,024 B1, Wagner; U.S.Patent Application Publication 2004/0110442 A1, Rhim; EP 1 440 197 B1,Thordahl; U.S. Pat. No. 6,916,969, Helmfridsson; U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2006/0151914 A1, Gerndt; U.S. Pat. No. 7,147,453 B2,Boegli; U.S. Pat. No. 7,423,003, Volpenhein; U.S. Pat. No. 7,323,072 B2,Engelhart, et al.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0063454,Chung; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0029694 A1, Cree, etal.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0224351 A1, Curro, etal.; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0026651 A1, Lee, etal.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,521,588 B2, Stone, et al.; and U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2010/0201024 A1, Gibson, et al.

However, the search continues for methods and apparatuses that arecapable of forming new structures in webs that provide the webs withadditional properties. In the case of webs used in absorbent articles,such new structures may include those that provide a single portion ofthe web with dual, or more, properties (such as improved softness, fluidhandling, or other properties) in a predetermined portion of the web. Aneed also exists for apparatuses that will allow a web to be deformedmultiple times while maintaining control over the registration of thedeformations in the web. A further need exists for apparatuses that arecapable of deforming a web multiple times with an apparatus that has asmall footprint on a manufacturing floor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to deformed web materials andapparatuses and methods for deforming a web to create such materials.Such materials can be provided as components of products such asabsorbent articles (such as topsheets, backsheets, acquisition layers,liquid handling layers, absorbent cores), packaging (such as flow wrap,shrink wrap, and polybags), trash bags, food wrap, wipes, facial tissue,toilet tissue, paper towels, and the like. There are numerousnon-limiting embodiments of the present invention.

In one non-limiting embodiment, the deformed web material comprises aweb having discrete deformations formed therein. The deformations may befeatures in the form of portions of the web with apertures therein,protrusions, depressed areas, and combinations thereof. These featuresmay extend out from the surface on one side of the web, or from both ofthe surfaces of the web. Different features may be intermixed with oneanother.

The apparatuses and methods can, in certain non-limiting embodiments, beconfigured for deforming a web in a single nip. In one embodiment, themethod involves feeding a web into a nip that is formed between twointermeshing rolls. The two rolls are configured for deforming a webwith at least two sets of deformations that are oriented in differentdirections relative to the surfaces of the web.

In other embodiments, the apparatuses and methods can be configured fordeforming a web at least two times (that is, in at least two or morenips). In such embodiments, the apparatus may comprise nested, or otherarrangements of, multiple rolls in which the web may be maintainedsubstantially in contact with at least one of the rolls throughout theprocess, and at least two of the rolls define two or more nips thereonwith other rolls. In some embodiments, rolls can be used to expose adifferent side of the web for a subsequent deformation step. In these orother embodiments, the rolls can be used to transfer the web betweenrolls in such a manner that it may offset the rolls and/or web so thatsubsequent deformations are formed at a different cross-machinedirection alignment than prior deformations. In some cases, this may beused to achieve a tighter spacing between deformations than mightotherwise be possible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description will be more fully understood in viewof the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a prior art method and apparatus fordeforming a web.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of another prior art apparatus fordeforming a web.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of another prior art method andapparatus for deforming a web.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of one embodiment of a method andapparatus for deforming a web.

FIG. 4A is a schematic side view of an alternative embodiment of amethod and apparatus for deforming a web wherein a second web isintroduced at a nip downstream of the first nip.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a pair of ring rolls suitablefor use in the methods and apparatuses described herein.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a pair of rolls suitable foruse in the methods and apparatuses described herein comprising a ringroll and a SELF roll.

FIG. 6A is an enlarged perspective view of a CD SELF roll with astaggered pattern of teeth thereon.

FIG. 6B is a cross-section of a portion of the intermeshing rolls shownin FIG. 6.

FIG. 6C is an enlarged perspective view of a MD SELF roll with astaggered pattern of teeth thereon.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a pair of rolls suitable foruse in the methods and apparatuses described herein comprising a ringroll and an RKA roll.

FIG. 8 is a fragmented cross-sectional view through a portion of the nipbetween a pair of rolls suitable for use in the methods and apparatusesdescribed herein which comprise male/female embossing rolls.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the surfaces of apair of rolls suitable for use in the methods and apparatuses describedherein.

FIG. 9A is a perspective view of a portion of a forming structure havingvarious forming elements.

FIG. 10 is a schematic side view of another embodiment of a method andapparatus for deforming a web in which the web wraps at least 180degrees around one of the rolls.

FIG. 11 is a schematic side view of another embodiment of a method andapparatus for deforming a web in which the apparatus comprises a hybridroll arrangement.

FIG. 12 is a schematic side view of another embodiment of a method andapparatus for deforming a web in which the apparatus comprises a closedloop roll arrangement.

FIG. 13 is a schematic side view of another embodiment of a method andapparatus for deforming a web in which the apparatus comprises a sharedbank roll arrangement.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged perspective view of a pair of rolls for use in anapparatus in which one roll is a staggered “raised ridge” rotary knifeaperturing (or “RKA”) roll and the other roll is a staggered CD SELFroll.

FIG. 14A is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the surface ofthe raised ridge RKA roll shown in FIG. 14.

FIG. 14B is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the surface ofa raised ridge SELF roll, which could be used in a process such as thatshown in FIG. 14.

FIG. 14C is an enlarged perspective view of the nip formed between thepair of rolls shown in FIG. 14.

FIG. 14D is an enlarged side view of a portion of the surface of analternative raised ridge RKA roll shown in FIG. 14.

FIG. 15 is a top perspective view of one example of a web that can beformed by using a variation of the rolls in FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a schematic side view of another embodiment of a method andapparatus for deforming a web.

FIG. 16A is an enlarged partially fragmented cross-sectional view of theteeth of the first and second rolls of the apparatus shown in FIG. 16taken along lines 16A-16A.

FIG. 16B is an enlarged partially fragmented cross-sectional view of theteeth of the second and third rolls of the apparatus shown in FIG. 16taken along lines 16B-16B.

FIG. 16C is an enlarged partially fragmented cross-sectional view of theteeth of the third and fourth rolls of the apparatus shown in FIG. 16taken along lines 16C-16C.

FIG. 17 is a top perspective view of one example of a web that can beformed by using the rolls in FIG. 16 in which the first and last rollshave a staggered pattern of forming elements thereon.

FIG. 18 is a top perspective view of one example of a web that can beformed by using the rolls in FIG. 16 in which the first and last rollshave a standard (or linear) pattern of forming elements thereon.

FIG. 19 is a schematic side view of another embodiment of a method andapparatus for deforming a web.

FIG. 19A is an enlarged partially fragmented cross-sectional view of theteeth of the first and second rolls of the apparatus shown in FIG. 19taken along lines 19A-19A.

FIG. 19B is an enlarged partially fragmented cross-sectional view of theteeth of the second and third rolls of the apparatus shown in FIG. 19taken along lines 19B-19B.

FIG. 19C is an enlarged partially fragmented cross-sectional view of theteeth of the third and fourth rolls of the apparatus shown in FIG. 19taken along lines 19C-19C.

FIG. 20 is a top perspective view of one example of a web that can beformed by using the rolls in FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is a schematic side view of another embodiment of a method andapparatus for deforming a web.

FIG. 21A is an enlarged partially fragmented cross-sectional view of theteeth of the first and second rolls of the apparatus shown in FIG. 21taken along lines 21A-21A.

FIG. 21B is an enlarged partially fragmented cross-sectional view of theteeth of the second and third rolls of the apparatus shown in FIG. 21taken along lines 21B-21B.

FIG. 21C is an enlarged partially fragmented cross-sectional view of theteeth of the third and fourth rolls of the apparatus shown in FIG. 21taken along lines 21C-21C.

FIG. 21D is an enlarged partially fragmented cross-sectional view of theteeth of the fourth and fifth rolls of the apparatus shown in FIG. 21taken along lines 21D-21D.

FIG. 22 is a top perspective view of one example of a web that can beformed by using the rolls in FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is top perspective view of one example of a web that can beformed by MD phasing rolls with a staggered pattern using the apparatusshown in FIG. 2 or 4.

FIG. 24 is a schematic side view of a web that comprises a laminate of anonwoven and film in which the film is located within one of the tuftsand is not formed within another tuft.

The embodiments shown in the drawings are illustrative in nature and arenot intended to be limiting of the invention defined by the claims.Moreover, the features of the invention will be more fully apparent andunderstood in view of the detailed description.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Definitions

The term “absorbent article” includes disposable articles such assanitary napkins, panty liners, tampons, interlabial devices, wounddressings, diapers, adult incontinence articles, wipes, and the like.Still further, the absorbent members produced by the methods andapparatuses disclosed herein can find utility in other webs such asscouring pads, dry-mop pads (such as SWIFFER® pads), and the like. Atleast some of such absorbent articles are intended for the absorption ofbody liquids, such as menses or blood, vaginal discharges, urine, andfeces. Wipes may be used to absorb body liquids, or may be used forother purposes, such as for cleaning surfaces. Various absorbentarticles described above will typically comprise a liquid pervioustopsheet, a liquid impervious backsheet joined to the topsheet, and anabsorbent core between the topsheet and backsheet.

The term “absorbent core”, as used herein, refers to the component ofthe absorbent article that is primarily responsible for storing liquids.As such, the absorbent core typically does not include the topsheet orbacksheet of the absorbent article.

The term “absorbent member”, as used herein, refers to the components ofthe absorbent article that typically provide one or more liquid handlingfunctionality, e.g., liquid acquisition, liquid distribution, liquidtransportation, liquid storage, etc. If the absorbent member comprisesan absorbent core component, the absorbent member can comprise theentire absorbent core or only a portion of the absorbent core.

The term “absorbent structure”, as used herein, refers to an arrangementof more than one absorbent component of an absorbent article.

The term “adjacent”, as used herein, with reference to features orregions, means near or close to, and which need not be in contact witheach other.

The term “aperture”, as used herein, refers to a hole. The apertures caneither be punched cleanly through the web so that the materialsurrounding the aperture lies in the same plane as the web prior to theformation of the aperture (a “two dimensional” aperture), or holesformed in which at least some of the material surrounding the opening ispushed out of the plane of the web. In the latter case, the aperturesmay resemble a protrusion or depression with an aperture therein, andmay be referred to herein as a “three dimensional” aperture, a subset ofapertures.

The term “component” of an absorbent article, as used herein, refers toan individual constituent of an absorbent article, such as a topsheet,acquisition layer, liquid handling layer, absorbent core or layers ofabsorbent cores, backsheets, and barriers such as barrier layers andbarrier cuffs.

The term “cross-machine direction” or “CD” means the path that isperpendicular to the machine direction in the plane of the web.

The term “deformable material”, as used herein, is a material which iscapable of changing its shape or density in response to applied stressesor strains.

The term “discrete”, as used herein, means distinct or unconnected. Whenthe term “discrete” is used relative to forming elements on a formingmember, it is meant that the distal (or radially outwardmost) ends ofthe forming elements are distinct or unconnected in all directions,including in the machine and cross-machine directions (even though basesof the forming elements may be formed into the same surface of a roll,for example).

The term “disposable” is used herein to describe absorbent articles andother products which are not intended to be laundered or otherwiserestored or reused as an absorbent article or product (i.e., they areintended to be discarded after use and, preferably, to be recycled,composted or otherwise disposed of in an environmentally compatiblemanner).

The term “forming elements”, as used herein, refers to any elements onthe surface of a forming member that are capable of deforming a web. Theterm “forming elements” includes both continuous or non-discrete formingelements such as the ridges and grooves on ring rolls, and discreteforming elements.

The term “intermixed”, as used herein, refers to features that aredistributed between other features over at least some portion of thesurface of a component, in which the features differ from each other asdescribed herein. The term “intermixed” comprises arrangements offeatures in which at least two of the closest features in any direction(including, but not limited to longitudinal, transverse, or diagonal)differ from each other as described herein, even though there may be asimilar feature that is as close as, or closer to, a given feature inanother direction.

The term “Interpenetrating SELF” and the acronym “IPS”, as used herein,refers to a process that uses The Procter & Gamble Company's SELFtechnology (described below) to combine at least two layers or materialstogether. Tufts may be formed in both materials; or, the tuft of onematerial may burst through the other material. Interpenetrating SELF isdescribed in greater detail in U.S. Pat. No. 7,648,752.

The term “joined to” encompasses configurations in which an element isdirectly secured to another element by affixing the element directly tothe other element; configurations in which the element is indirectlysecured to the other element by affixing the element to intermediatemember(s) which in turn are affixed to the other element; andconfigurations in which one element is integral with another element,i.e., one element is essentially part of the other element. The term“joined to” encompasses configurations in which an element is secured toanother element at selected locations, as well as configurations inwhich an element is completely secured to another element across theentire surface of one of the elements. The term “joined to” includes anyknown manner in which elements can be secured including, but not limitedto mechanical entanglement.

The term “layer” is used herein to refer to an absorbent member whoseprimary dimension is X-Y, i.e., along its length (or longitudinaldirection) and width (or transverse direction). It should be understoodthat the term “layer” is not necessarily limited to single layers orsheets of material. Thus the layer can comprise laminates orcombinations of several sheets or webs of the requisite type ofmaterials. Accordingly, the term “layer” includes the terms “layers” and“layered”.

The term “machine direction” or “MD” means the path that material, suchas a web, follows through a manufacturing process.

The term “male/female embossing” as used herein, refers to an embossingapparatus and process that involves the use of at least a pair ofpatterned rolls, wherein the first patterned roll comprises one or moreprojections or protrusions, and the second patterned roll comprises oneor more recesses into which one or more of the projections of the firstpatterned roll mesh. The projections and recesses may be discreteembossing elements, and they may have matched or unmatched patterns. Theterm “male/female embossing”, thus, excludes embossing processes thatutilize the combination of a patterned roll against a flat anvil roll ordeformable roll.

The term “macroscopic”, as used herein, refers to structural features orelements that are readily visible and distinctly discernable to a humanhaving 20/20 vision when the perpendicular distance between the viewer'seye and the web is about 12 inches (30 cm). Conversely, the term“microscopic” refers to such features that are not readily visible anddistinctly discernable under such conditions.

The terms “mechanically impacting” or “mechanically deforming”, may beused interchangeably herein, to refer to processes in which a mechanicalforce is exerted upon a material.

The term “Micro-SELF” is a process that is similar in apparatus andmethod to that of the SELF process defined herein. Micro-SELF teeth havedifferent dimensions such that they are more conducive to forming tuftswith openings on the leading and trailing ends. A process usingmicro-SELF to form tufts in a web substrate is disclosed in U.S. Patentapplication Publication No. US 2006/0286343A1.

The term “permanently deformed”, as used herein, refers to the state ofa deformable material whose shape or density has been permanentlyaltered in response to applied stresses or strains.

The term “post-consumer recycled material” as used herein generallyrefers to material that can originate from post-consumer sources such asdomestic, distribution, retail, industrial, and demolition.“Post-consumer fibers” means fibers obtained from consumer products thathave been discarded for disposal or recovery after having completedtheir intended uses and is intended to be a subset of post consumerrecycled materials. Post-consumer materials may be obtained from thesorting of materials from a consumer or manufacturer waste stream priorto disposal. This definition is intended to include materials which areused to transport product to a consumer, including, for example,corrugated cardboard containers.

The terms “ring roll” or “ring rolling” refer to a process usingdeformation members comprising counter rotating rolls, intermeshingbelts or intermeshing plates containing continuous ridges and grooveswhere intermeshing ridges (or projections) and grooves (or recesses) ofdeformation members engage and stretch a web interposed therebetween.For ring rolling, the deformation members can be arranged to stretch theweb in the cross machine direction or the machine direction depending onthe orientation of the ridges and grooves.

The term “rotary knife aperturing” (RKA) refers to a process andapparatus using intermeshing deformation members similar to thosedescribed herein with respect to SELF or micro-SELF deformation members.The RKA process differs from SELF or micro-SELF in that the relativelyflat, elongated teeth of a SELF or micro-SELF deformation member havebeen modified to be pyramid shaped, elongated with at least six sides,the sides being substantially triangular and tapered to a point at thedistal end. The teeth can be sharpened to cut through as well as deforma web to produce an apertured web, or in some cases, athree-dimensionally apertured web, as disclosed in U.S. PatentApplication Publication Nos. US 2005/0064136A1, US 2006/0087053A1, andUS 2005/021753. In other respects such as tooth height, tooth spacing,pitch, depth of engagement, and other processing parameters, RKA and theRKA apparatus can be the same as described herein with respect to SELFor micro-SELF.

The terms “SELF” or “SELF'ing”, refer to Procter & Gamble technology inwhich SELF stands for Structural Elastic Like Film. While the processwas originally developed for deforming polymer film to have beneficialstructural characteristics, it has been found that the SELF'ing processcan be used to produce beneficial structures in other materials.Processes, apparatuses, and patterns produced via SELF are illustratedand described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,518,801; 5,691,035; 5,723,087;5,891,544; 5,916,663; 6,027,483; and 7,527,615 B2.

The term “tuft”, as used herein, refers to a particular type ofprotrusion that may be formed in a nonwoven web. Tufts typically have atunnel-like configuration, and in some cases may be open at one or bothof their ends.

The term “upper” refers to absorbent members, such as layers, that arenearer to the wearer of the absorbent article during use, i.e. towardsthe topsheet of an absorbent article; conversely, the term “lower”refers to absorbent members that are further away from the wearer of theabsorbent article towards the backsheet. The term “laterally”corresponds to direction of the shorter dimension of the article, whichgenerally during use corresponds to a left-to-right orientation of thewearer. “Longitudinally” then refers to the direction perpendicular tothe lateral one, but not corresponding to the thickness direction.

The term “Z-dimension” refers to the dimension orthogonal to the lengthand width of the web or article. The Z-dimension usually corresponds tothe thickness of the web or article. As used herein, the term “X-Ydimension” refers to the plane orthogonal to the thickness of the web orarticle. The X-Y dimension usually corresponds to the length and width,respectively, of the web or article.

I. Deformed Web Materials.

The present inventions are directed to deformed web materials andmethods and apparatuses for deforming a web. Methods and apparatuses aredisclosed that are capable of forming new structures in webs thatprovide the webs with additional properties. It should be understoodthat while the term “deformed web materials” is utilized herein, theobject is to create components, such as absorbent members (ornon-absorbent components), for absorbent articles from such deformed webmaterials. In such cases, the deformed web materials will be cut intoindividual components for absorbent articles. The deformed web materialscan also be used in products other than absorbent articles including,but not limited to packaging materials and trash bags.

Structures can be provided in webs and the components formed therefromwhich are not possible to produce with current methods and tooling(forming components). Such structures include features extending out ofthe plane of the web on both sides of the web, and/or features that areintermixed between other features. The web can, in some cases, also beprovided with features that are more closely spaced than is possiblewith conventional tooling. In the case of webs used in absorbentarticles, such new structures may include those that provide a singleportion of the web with dual, or more, properties (such as improvedsoftness, fluid handling, or other properties) in a predeterminedportion of the web. The apparatuses and processes can allow a web to bedeformed multiple times while maintaining control over the registrationof the deformations in the web. That is, the location/registration ofthe web may be controlled in the machine direction and in thecross-machine direction from the time the web is fed into the firstforming nip to the time it exits the last forming nip so deformationsmade in the downstream nips occur in a controlled location relative todeformations made in previous nips.

The web (or “precursor web”) that will be deformed can comprise anysuitable deformable material, such as a woven, nonwoven, film,combination, or laminate of any of the foregoing materials. As usedherein, the term “nonwoven web” refers to a web having a structure ofindividual fibers or threads which are interlaid, but not in a repeatingpattern as in a woven or knitted fabric, which do not typically haverandomly oriented fibers. Nonwoven webs or fabrics have been formed frommany processes, such as, for example, meltblowing, spunbonding,hydroentangling, airlaid, wetlaid, through-air-dried paper makingprocesses, and bonded carded web processes, including carded thermalbonding. The woven, nonwoven, film, combination, or laminate can be madeof any suitable materials including, but not limited to naturalmaterials, synthetic materials, and combinations thereof. Suitablenatural materials include, but are not limited to cellulose, cottonlinters, bagasse, wool fibers, silk fibers, etc. In some embodiments,the web materials may be substantially free of cellulose, and/or excludepaper materials. In other embodiments, the methods described herein maybe performed on cellulose-containing precursor materials. Suitablesynthetic materials include, but are not limited to rayon and polymericmaterials. Suitable polymeric materials include, but are not limited to:polyethylene, polyester, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), andpolypropylene. Any of the materials described above may comprisepost-consumer recycled material.

In one non-limiting embodiment, the deformed web material comprises aweb having discrete deformations formed therein. The web has a firstsurface and a second surface. The web comprises: a) substantiallyundeformed first regions, the undeformed regions having surfaces thatcorrespond to the first and second surfaces of the web prior to theformation of deformations therein; b) a plurality of spaced apart firstformed features (or “first features”) in first locations comprisingfeatures that can comprise: portions of the web material with aperturestherein; protrusions; and depressed areas (or “depressions”); and c) aplurality of spaced apart second formed features (or “second features”)in second locations comprising features that can comprise: portions ofthe web material with apertures therein; protrusions; and depressedareas (or “depressions”). In some embodiments, the first features and/orthe second features may be selected from the group consisting of one ormore of the foregoing types of features. The second features may be of adifferent type and/or have different properties or characteristics thanthe first features, and the second features may be intermixed with thefirst features. In some embodiments, all of the adjacent features, orall of closest features, may be of a different type and/or havedifferent properties. In some embodiments, at least four of the closesteight features in any direction to a given feature may be of a differenttype and/or have different properties. The web material may furthercomprise third, fourth or more formed features. The third, fourth, ormore features may comprise any of the types of features or have any ofthe properties described herein, and may differ from the first andsecond features in any such aspects.

In certain embodiments, it may be possible to densely pack multiplefeatures within a relatively small area. For example, thecenter-to-center spacing in any direction between a first feature and asecond feature may be less than or equal to about 20 mm, alternatively10 mm, 5 mm, 3 mm, 2 mm, or 1 mm, or lie in any range between two ofthese numbers. The total number of features in an area that measures 1square inch (645 mm²) may be greater than or equal to 4, 25, 100, 250,500, or 645, or lie in any range between two of these numbers. Thenumber of first features in one square inch may be the same or differentfrom the number of the second features in that same area. The number offeatures in a one inch square area can be determined by marking a squarearea on the material that measures 1 inch (25.4 mm) by 1 inch with afine tip pen or marker and counting the number of first, second, third,etc. features that lie fully or partially within and on the boundary ofthe 1 inch square. A low power microscope or other magnifying aid can beused to aid visibility of the features in the material if needed. Theratio of the number of first features to the number of second featuresmay be between 0.0016 and 155. When the number of first features is thesame as the number of second features, the ratio will be 1. Forembodiments related to a web comprising a film, the ratio of the numberof first features to the number of second features may be between 0.125and 8. Note, in cases where there are third, fourth or more differenttypes of features, these ratios would apply to all paired combinationsof features.

The first features and second features may be of any suitable size.Typically, either the first features or the second features will bemacroscopic. In some embodiments, the first features and the secondfeatures will both be macroscopic. The plan view area of the individualfeatures may, in some embodiments of the web, be greater than or equalto about 0.5 mm², 1 mm², 5 mm², 10 mm², or 15 mm², or lie in any rangebetween two of these numbers The methods described herein can, however,be used to create first features and/or second features that aremicroscopic which have plan view areas less than 0.5 mm²

The first features and second features may be of any suitableconfiguration. The features may be continuous and/or discrete. Suitableconfigurations for the features include, but are not limited to: ridges(continuous protrusions) and grooves (continuous depressions); tufts;columnar shapes; dome-shapes, tent-shapes, volcano-shapes; featureshaving plan view configurations including circular, oval, hour-glassshaped, star shaped, polygonal, polygonal with rounded corners, and thelike, and combinations thereof. Polygonal shapes include, but are notlimited to rectangular (inclusive of square), triangular, hexagonal, ortrapezoidal. In some embodiments, the first and/or second features mayexclude one or more of the configurations listed above.

The first features and the second features may differ from each other interms of one or more of the following properties: type, shape, size,aspect ratio, edge-to-edge spacing, height or depth, density, color,surface treatment (e.g., lotion, etc.), number of web layers within thefeatures, and orientation (protruding from different sides of the web).The term “type”, as used herein, refers to whether the feature is anaperture (a two dimensional aperture, or a three dimensional aperture),a protrusion (a tuft, or other kind of protrusion), or a depression. Twofeatures will be considered to be different in type if one featurecomprises one of these features listed (for example, a two dimensionalaperture), and the other feature comprises another one of the listedfeatures (for example, a three dimensional aperture). When the featuresare described as differing from each other in one of more of theproperties listed above, it is meant to include those differences otherthan minor differences that are the result of variations withinmanufacturing tolerances. It should also be understood that although theweb material may have discrete thermal or adhesive bond sites therein,in some embodiments the features of interest imparted by this processherein do not include such bond sites.

The various types of deformed webs will be shown in conjunction with thedescriptions of the apparatuses and methods used to form the same. Thesewebs can be cut to form various components of products such as absorbentarticles (such as topsheets, backsheets, acquisition layers, absorbentcores), packaging (such as flow wrap, shrink wrap, and polybags), trashbags, food wrap, wipes, facial tissue, toilet tissue, paper towels, andthe like.

II. Apparatuses for Deforming Web Materials.

Prior art approaches are not suitable for creating well-definedinter-mixed features with controlled placement of the features.Therefore, it is desirable to design a process that enables betterindependent control over the formation of two or more sets of features.Two approaches for achieving better independent control over theformation of each set of features are provided here. One approachutilizes a single nip with two rolls comprising discrete male formingelements wherein at least one roll comprises two or more raised ridges.A second approach comprises a multi-hit (multi-nip) configuration thatenables controlled placement and orientation of multiple sets offeatures. Each of these approaches may enable independent control overthe formation of each set of features and better pattern conformation ofthe web to the roll such that the desired size and/or shape of thefeature is achieved.

The mechanical deformation process can be carried out on any suitableapparatus that may comprise any suitable type(s) of forming structure.Suitable types of forming structures include, but are not limited to: apair of rolls that define a nip therebetween; pairs of plates; belts,etc. Using an apparatus with rolls can be beneficial in the case ofcontinuous processes, particularly those in which the speed of theprocess is of interest. Although the apparatuses will be describedherein for convenience primarily in terms of rolls, it should beunderstood that the description will be applicable to forming structuresthat have any other suitable configurations.

To assist in understanding the present inventions, several prior artapparatuses are shown. FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a prior artapparatus 20 for deforming a web material. The apparatus shown in FIG. 1will be referred to as a “paired roll arrangement”. In this apparatus, aweb material 10 is fed through a first nip N between a first pair 22 ofstacked rolls comprising rolls 22A and 22B. Downstream from the firstpair 22 of stacked rolls, the web is fed through a second nip N betweena second pair 24 of stacked rolls comprising rolls 24A and 24B. The webmaterial 10 has a first surface or side 10A and a second surface or side10B. Typically, such an apparatus is used to form continuousdeformations into a web. Applicants have considered utilizing such anapparatus to form discrete deformations into the web 10 at each nip.However, such an apparatus is subject to difficulties in registering oraligning deformations that may be made at the second nip withdeformations that are made at the first nip. These difficulties arecaused at least in part by the fact that there is a free span of webmaterial, S, between the first and second nips that is not maintained incontact with any rolls. This results in loss of precision in controlover the portion of the web that will be deformed at the second nip.This is particularly the case with more flexible or lower modulusmaterials, as are often found in disposable products that can changedimensions in the free span between successive nips.

FIG. 2 shows another prior art apparatus for deforming a web material.The apparatus 30 shown in FIG. 2 will be referred to as a “planetary” or“satellite” roll arrangement. In this apparatus, there is a “sun” orcentral roll 32, and one or more satellite rolls 34, 36, and 38, thatform nips N with the central roll 32. It should be understood, however,that although the apparatuses shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are known, thereare variations of the same disclosed herein that are not believed to beknown, and it is expressly not admitted that FIG. 1 or 2 disclose suchvariations. The disadvantage of a conventional planetary rollarrangement is that the downstream satellite rolls 36 and 38 can onlydeform the web 10 on the same side as the first satellite roll 34. Thus,it would not ordinarily be possible to form discrete deformations in theweb, some of which extend out from one surface of the web, and some ofwhich extend out from another surface of the web with independentcontrol of the deformation and placement of multiple sets of features.Another disadvantage of a conventional planetary roll arrangement isthat satellite rolls 34, 36 and 38 are only capable of deforming the web10 in the recesses of the central roll. Therefore, the spacing of theformed features is limited by the spacing of the recesses on the centralroll. Thus, it would not be possible to form discrete deformations inthe web that have a smaller center-to-center spacing than thecenter-to-center spacing of the recesses on the forming roll(s).

FIG. 3 shows another prior art apparatus for deforming a web material,which is a variation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2. The apparatus hasa central roll 42 and satellite rolls 44 and 48. The apparatus 40 shownin FIG. 3 differs from the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 in that at oneplace around the central roll 42, the web material 10 is transferredfrom the surface of the central roll 42 to a roll 46 that is spaced awayfrom the central roll 42 such that this latter roll 46 does not form anip with the central roll 42. The apparatus shown in FIG. 3 will bereferred to as a planetary or satellite roll arrangement with aremovable roll. The disadvantage of a planetary or satellite rollarrangement with a removable roll arrangement is that if deformationsare being made in the web 10 after the web leaves the central roll 42 towrap around the removable roll 46, it is difficult to maintain controlover the registration of the deformations in the web due to the largefree spans of material, S, between the deformation nips.

Applicants have also considered using a single nip comprising two rollswith discrete male forming elements to form multiple set of discretedeformations into the web. The disadvantage of this approach is thattypically, one set of features will be preferentially formed over theother, and the second set of features may never be formed or will notresult in the desired feature size and/or shape. Without wishing to bebound by any particular theory, it is believed that this is a result ofthe material following the path of least resistance, which is dependentupon the two mating roll patterns. In situations in which the matingrolls are identical, a conventional single nip apparatus will notproduce the same structure that is created if the elements are formedindependently in separate nips. Prior art approaches do not provide anapparatus that can create independent control of the deformation andplacement of multiple sets of features. Because of the drawbacksassociated with the above apparatuses, applicants have developedimproved configurations for the arrangement of the rolls.

FIG. 4 shows one non-limiting embodiment of an apparatus that can beused in the processes described herein. The apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 4will be referred to as a “nested roll” arrangement. In this apparatus50, the rolls 52, 54, 56, 58, and 60 are arranged in an offsetconfiguration when viewed from the side (that is, the ends of therolls). In this apparatus, at least one roll, such as rolls 54, 58, and60, are positioned in a gap between two adjacent rolls. At least two ofthe rolls define two or more nips N thereon with other rolls. Forexample, roll 58 forms two nips—with rolls 52 and 54; and roll 54 formstwo nips—with rolls 58 and 60. Typically, in a nested roll arrangement,there will be at least four generally cylindrical rolls, and at leasttwo of the rolls will have forming elements thereon. More specifically,in a nested configuration, the rolls each have an axis, A, and the rollsare arranged so that if the rolls are viewed from one of their circularsides, and lines B and C are drawn through the axes A of at least twodifferent pairs of said rolls (which pairs may have at least one roll incommon), will be non-parallel. As shown in FIG. 4, at least some of thelines B and C drawn through the axes of adjacent pairs of rolls form anangle therebetween.

The nested roll arrangement may provide several advantages. A nestedroll arrangement provides more nips per total number of rolls than someof the roll arrangements shown in FIGS. 1-3. The nested roll arrangementmaintains control of the web 10 for registering deformations in the websince all portions along the length of the web on at least one surfaceof the web may remain substantially in contact with at least one of therolls from the point where the web enters the first forming nip to thelocation where the web exits the last forming nip. When the web isdescribed as remaining substantially in contact with the rolls, the webmay contact the roll(s) only on the tips of the forming elements on theroll, bridging between adjacent forming elements. A web containing smallfree spans between adjacent forming elements would still be consideredto be in substantial contact with the rolls, as would a roll arrangementin which there is an unsupported section of the web or free span that isless than or equal to 2 cm in length. The nested roll arrangementprovides the ability to create deformations in different cross-machinedirection locations (or lanes) and on different sides of a web. Thenested roll arrangement also has a smaller footprint on a manufacturingfloor. The entire nested roll arrangement shown in FIG. 4 could also berotated 90° so that the rolls are stacked vertically, and the apparatuswould occupy even less space on a manufacturing floor.

FIG. 4A shows an alternative embodiment of a method and nested rollapparatus 62 for deforming a web. The apparatus 62 is similar to theapparatus shown in FIG. 4. However, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4A,a second web 12 is introduced at a nip N2 downstream of the first nipN1. The methods described herein contemplate that any number ofadditional webs may be fed into the apparatuses at any nip downstream ofthe first nip. The additional layers may be used to add webs havingdifferent chemical compositions, formulations, aesthetics, conductiveproperties, aromatic properties, and mechanical properties. Theprocesses described herein enable independent control of the featuresformed in a multi-layer structure, providing additional control over thefunction and aesthetics of the features. For example, this process couldprovide the ability to create multi-layer structures where the somefeatures have more layers through their thickness than other features.

The rolls used in the apparatuses and methods described herein aretypically generally cylindrical. The term “generally cylindrical”, asused herein, encompasses rolls that are not only perfectly cylindrical,but also cylindrical rolls that may have elements on their surface. Theterm “generally cylindrical” also includes rolls that may have astep-down in diameter, such as on the surface of the roll near the endsof the roll. The rolls are also typically rigid (that is, substantiallynon-deformable). The term “substantially non-deformable”, as usedherein, refers to rolls having surfaces (and any elements thereon) thattypically do not deform or compress under the conditions used incarrying out the processes described herein. The rolls can be made fromany suitable materials including, but not limited to steel, aluminum orrigid plastic. The steel may be made of corrosion resistant and wearresistant steel, such as stainless steel. The rolls may or may not beheated. If heated, consideration of thermal expansion effects must beaccommodated according to well known practices to one skilled in the artof thermo-mechanical processes.

The rolls used in the apparatuses and methods described herein are usedto mechanically deform portions of the web material or materials. Themechanical deformation process may be used to permanently deformportions of the web and form the types of features in the web describedabove. The terms “mechanically deform” and “mechanical deformation”, asused herein, do not include hydroforming processes. The features formedby the processes described herein may be registered since the processesdescribed herein maintain control of the web, which may be insubstantially continuous contact with at least one of the rolls (whichserves as a metering surface) between the first nip through which theweb material passes until the material exits the last nip.

The rolls may have any suitable type of elements on their surface (orsurface configuration). The surface of the individual rolls may,depending on the desired type of mechanical deformation, be providedwith forming elements comprising: “male” elements such as discreteprojections, or continuous projections such as ridges; “female” elementsor recesses such as discrete or continuous voids in the surface of therolls; or any suitable combination thereof. The female elements may havea bottom surface (which may be referred to as depressions, cavities, orgrooves), or they may be in the form of apertures (through holes in thesurface of the rolls). In some embodiments, the forming elements on thecomponents (such as the rolls) of the forming structure may comprise thesame general type (that is, the opposing components may both have maleforming elements thereon, or combinations of male and female elements).

The forming elements may have any suitable shape or configuration. Agiven forming element can have the same plan view length and widthdimensions (such as a forming element with a circular or square shapedplan view). Alternatively, the forming element may have a length that isgreater than its width (such as a forming element with a rectangularplan view), in which case, the forming element may have any suitableaspect ratio of its length to its width. Suitable configurations for theforming elements include, but are not limited to: ridges and grooves,teeth having a triangular-shaped side view; columnar shapes; elementshaving plan view configurations including circular, oval, hour-glassshaped, star shaped, polygonal, and the like, and combinations thereof.Polygonal shapes include, but are not limited to rectangular,triangular, hexagonal, or trapezoidal. The forming elements can havetips that are flat, rounded or sharp. In certain embodiments, the shapesof the female elements may differ from the shapes of any mating maleforming elements. In certain embodiments, the female forming elementscan be configured to mate with one or more male forming elements.

The forming elements can be of any suitable size and have any suitablespacing. For instance, at least one forming element for formingmicro-textured webs has a center-to-center spacing of less than about800 microns with at least three, at least four, or at least five of itsadjacent forming elements as described in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/094,477 entitled “Process for Making a Micro-Textured Web”, filedon the same date as the present application. In some embodiments, atleast 25%, at least 50%, at least 75%, at least 95%, or all of theforming elements on a forming structure have center-to-center spacingsof less than about 800 microns with at least three, at least four, or atleast five of their adjacent forming elements 10. Other acceptablecenter-to-center spacings are from about 30 microns to about 700microns, from about 50 microns to about 600 microns, from about 100microns to about 500 microns, or from about 150 microns to about 400microns. The center-to-center spacings among adjacent forming elementsmay be the same or different. The center-to-center spacing of theforming elements may range from the scale used for such micro-texturedwebs up to, or greater than, the examples of the size of thecenter-to-center spacing of the larger forming elements describedherein. Suitable configurations for the forming components include, butare not limited to: ring rolls; SELFing rolls; Micro-SELFing rolls; andRKA rolls; male/female embossing rolls; and the forming structures forforming the micro-textured web in the patent application describedabove. Several such roll surface configurations are described below.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which the rolls 64 and 66 are referred toherein as “ring rolls”. The rolls 64 and 66, as in the case of the rollsin the other apparatuses shown and described herein, are carried onrespective rotatable shafts having their axes A of rotation disposed ina parallel relationship. In all of the embodiments described herein, therolls are non-contacting, and axially-driven. In this embodiment, thesurfaces of the rolls have a plurality of alternating ridges 68 andgrooves 70 extending around the circumference of the rolls. In otherembodiments, the ridges and grooves may extend parallel to the axes A ofthe rolls. One or more of such rolls can be used in the variousembodiments of the apparatuses described herein.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, and the various other embodimentsdescribed herein, the rolls may be meshing, non-meshing, or at leastpartially intermeshing. The terms “meshing” or “inter-meshing”, as usedherein, refer to arrangements when the forming elements on one of thecomponents of the forming structure (e.g., roll) extend toward thesurface of the other forming structure and the forming elements haveportions that extend between and below an imaginary plane drawn thoughthe tips of the forming elements on the surface of the other formingstructure. The term “non-meshing”, as used herein, refers toarrangements when the forming elements on one of the components of theforming structure (e.g., roll) extend toward the surface of the otherforming structure, but do not have portions that extend below animaginary plane drawn though the tips of the forming elements on thesurface of the other forming structure. The term “partiallyintermeshing”, as used herein, refers to arrangements when the formingelements on one of the components of the forming structure (e.g., roll)extend toward the surface of the other forming structure and some of theforming elements on the surface of the first roll have portions thatextend between and below an imaginary plane drawn though the tips of theforming elements on the surface of the other forming structure, and someof the elements on the surface of the first roll do not extend below animaginary plane drawn though the tips of the forming elements on thesurface of the other forming structure.

As shown in FIG. 5, the rolls typically rotate in opposite directions(that is, the rolls are counter-rotating). This is also the case for theother embodiments described herein. The rolls may rotate atsubstantially the same speed, or at different speeds. The phrase“substantially the same speed”, as used herein, means that there is lessthan 0.3% difference in the speed. The speed of the rolls is measured interms of surface or peripheral speed. Typically, when the web comprisespolymeric materials, the rolls will rotate at substantially the samespeed. If the web comprises cellulosic materials, the rolls may rotateat different speeds. The rolls may rotate at different surface speeds byrotating the rolls at different axial speeds, or by using rolls thathave different diameters that rotate at the same axial speeds. The rollsmay rotate at substantially the same speed as the speed at which the webis fed through the nip between the rolls; or, they may rotate at agreater speed than the speed at which the web is fed through the nipbetween the rolls. In cases where the rolls rotate at different speeds,there can be any suitable difference in surface or peripheral speedsbetween the rolls such as from greater than or equal to 0.3% up to 100%.One suitable range is between 1-10%. It is generally desirable for therolls to rotate at speeds which maintain the integrity of the web (thatis, not shred the web).

FIG. 6 shows an alternative roll embodiment in which the top roll 72 isa ring roll having circumferential ridges 68 and grooves 70, and thebottom roll 74 is one of The Procter & Gamble Company's “SELF” or“SELFing” rolls. The forming elements on the SELF rolls can be orientedin either the machine direction (MD) or the cross-machine direction(CD). In this embodiment, the SELF roll comprises a plurality ofalternating circumferential ridges 76 and grooves 78. The ridges 76 havespaced apart channels 80 formed therein that are oriented parallel tothe axis A of the roll. The channels 80 form breaks in the ridges 76that create discrete forming elements or teeth 82 on the SELF roll 74.In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the teeth 82 have their longerdimension oriented in the machine direction (MD). The roll configurationshown in FIG. 6 will be referred to herein as a standard “CD SELF” rollsince the teeth are aligned in rows in the MD and CD, and in the usualSELF process, the material being fed into the nip N having such a rollwould be stretched in the cross-machine direction (or “CD”).

In other embodiments, which are described in the SELF patents that areincorporated by reference herein, the SELF roll can comprise a machinedirection, or “MD SELF” roll. Such a roll will have alternating ridgesand grooves that are oriented parallel to the axis A of the roll. Theridges in such a roll have spaced apart channels formed therein that areoriented around the circumference of the roll. The channels form breaksin the ridges to form discrete forming elements or teeth on the MD SELFroll. In the case of MD SELF rolls, the teeth have their longerdimension oriented in the cross-machine direction (CD).

FIG. 6A is another embodiment of a roll suitable for use in theapparatuses described herein. In this embodiment, the roll 90 comprisesa variation of one of The Procter & Gamble Company's CD SELF technologyrolls. As shown in FIG. 6A, the surface of the roll has a plurality ofspaced apart teeth 100. The teeth 100 are arranged in a staggeredpattern. More specifically, the teeth 100 are arranged in a plurality ofcircumferentially-extending, axially-spaced rows, such as 102A and 102B,around the roll. But for the spacing TD between the teeth in each row,the teeth in each roll would form a plurality ofcircumferentially-extending, axially-spaced alternating ridges andgrooved regions. The tooth length TL and machine direction (MD) spacingTD can be defined such that the teeth in adjacent rows 102A and 102Beither overlap or do not appear to overlap when the rolls are viewedfrom one of their ends. In the embodiment shown, the teeth 100 inadjacent rows are circumferentially offset by a distance of 0.5x (where“x” is equal to the tooth length TL plus the MD spacing TD between teethin a given row). In other words, the leading edges LE of adjacent teethin adjacent rows will be offset in the MD by 0.5x. The rolls shown inFIG. 6A can be made in any suitable manner, such as by first cutting theridges and grooves into the roll, then helically cutting the teeth 100into the surface of the roll with each helical cut being continuous. Ifdesired, the tooth profile (in particular, the leading and trailingedges) can be modified by using a plunge cut.

The roll 90 can be aligned with an opposing roll which has ridges andgrooves therein so that the rows of teeth in one roll align with thegrooved regions between the teeth in the opposing roll. The advantage ofusing CD SELF rolls in the methods described herein is that registrationof multiple rolls to provide multiple hits (impacts within multiplenips) is much easier in that it is only necessary to register thetoothed regions (that is, to align the toothed regions with the groovedregions on the opposing roll) in the cross-machine direction, and it isnot necessary to phase or register the toothed regions in the MD. Thestaggered tooth pattern allows the web 10 to be mechanically impacted toform features in a staggered pattern.

FIG. 6B shows in cross section a portion of the intermeshing rolls 72and 74 shown in FIG. 6 including teeth 82 which appear as ridges 76 andgrooves 78 between the teeth 82. The teeth can have a triangular orinverted V-shape when viewed in cross-section. The vertices of teeth areoutermost with respect to the surface of the rolls. As shown, teeth 82that have a tooth height TH, a tooth length TL (FIG. 6), and atooth-to-tooth spacing (or ridge-to-ridge spacing) referred to as thepitch P. For staggered rolls, the pitch is equal to the spacing betweenadjacent rows of forming elements. The tooth length TL in suchembodiments is a circumferential measurement. The outermost tips of theteeth have sides that are preferably rounded to avoid cuts or tears inthe precursor material. The size and shape of the tooth tip may bespecified via the tip radius TR. The leading and trailing ends of theteeth may have a radius as well, or the teeth may form a right angle(and have no radius). As shown, the ridges 68 of one roll extendpartially into the grooves 78 of the opposed roll to define a “depth ofengagement” (DOE) E, which is a measure of the level of intermeshing ofrolls 72 and 74. The depth of engagement can be zero, positive formeshing rolls, or negative for non-meshing rolls. The depth ofengagement E, tooth height TH, tooth length TL, tooth spacing TD, tipradius TR, and pitch P can be varied as desired depending on theproperties of precursor web 10 and the desired characteristics of theformed web 20.

The teeth can have any suitable dimensions. In certain embodiments ofthe SELF rolls, the teeth 100 can have a length TL ranging from about0.5 mm (0.020 inches) to about 13 mm (0.512 inches) and a spacing TDfrom about 0.5 mm to about 13 mm, a tooth height TH ranging from about0.5 mm to about 17 mm (0.669 inches), a tooth tip radius TR ranging fromabout 0.05 mm (0.002 inches) to about 0.5 mm (0.020 inches), and a pitchP between about 1 mm (0.040 inches) and 10 mm (0.400 inches). The depthof engagement E can be from about −1 mm to about 16 mm (up to a maximumapproaching the tooth height TH). Of course, E, P, TH, TD, TL, and TRcan each be varied independently of each other to achieve the desiredproperties in the web. Another property describing the teeth is theirside wall angle. The side wall angle is the angle the longer sides ofthe teeth make relative to an imaginary vertical line extending outwardfrom the central axis of the roll through the center of the teeth. Anyradius at the tips of the teeth is ignored. Typically, the side wallangle of the teeth is defined such that when the rolls areinter-meshing, there is sufficient clearance for the web and the web isnot sheared (where portions of the web forced to slip relative to otherportions) or pinched by the tooling. However, for some materials, suchas those comprising cellulose fibers, it can be advantageous to havesmaller clearances and induce shear in the material. Typically, the sidewall angle will range from between about 3 to about 15 degrees. Theleading and trailing ends of the teeth are typically squared off andhave a vertical side wall from the base to the tip of the tooth.

FIG. 6C shows an alternative roll 92 embodiment which is referred toherein as an “MD staggered SELF” roll in which the teeth 100 areoriented with their longer dimension oriented in the CD and arestaggered. The roll 92 has circumferentially extending channels 94formed between the teeth.

FIG. 7 shows an alternative roll embodiment which the top roll is a ringroll, and the bottom roll is referred to herein as a Rotary KnifeAperturing (or “RKA”) roll. As shown in FIG. 7, the rolls comprise apair of counter-rotating, intermeshing rolls, wherein the top roll 72comprises circumferentially-extending ridges 68 and grooves 70, and thebottom roll 104 comprises pyramid shaped teeth 110 with at least sixsides, the sides being substantially triangular and being tapered from abase to a tip. The teeth 110 are arranged in spaced apartcircumferential rows with grooves 112 therebetween. The teeth 110 arejoined to the bottom roll 104 at the base, and the base of the tooth hasa cross-sectional length dimension greater than a cross-sectional widthdimension. Typically, apertures are formed in the web material 10 as theteeth 110 on the RKA roll 104 intermesh with grooves 70 on the otherroll 72. With respect to tooth height, tooth spacing, pitch, depth ofengagement, and other processing parameters, RKA and the RKA apparatuscan be the same as described herein with respect to SELF or micro-SELF.RKA rolls are described in greater detail in U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. US 2006/0087053 A1. A variation of such an RKA roll isshown in FIGS. 14 to 14C.

FIG. 8 shows a portion of the nip between a pair of rolls suitable foruse in the apparatuses described herein in which the rolls are“male/female embossing” rolls. As shown in FIG. 8, male/female embossingapparatus comprises at least a first and a second patterned roll 114 and116. The first patterned roll 114 has a male embossing pattern,comprising one or more projections 118 which may be discrete elements(e.g., dot and/or line) embossing elements. The second patterned roll116 has a female embossing pattern comprising one or more recesses 120,which may be discrete (e.g., dot and/or line configured recesses), intowhich one or more of the projections of the first patterned roll mesh.The rolls may have matched or unmatched patterns. The elements on therolls can be of any suitable size and shape. In one non-limitingembodiment detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,172 B2, Vaughn, the embossingrolls may have unmatched embossing patterns, which were engravedindependently from each other. The rolls 114 and 116 in such anembodiment have enlarged sidewall clearances between adjacent,inter-engaged projections 118 and recesses 120 of the embossingpatterns. The sidewall clearances can range from about 0.002 inch (about0.050 mm) to about 0.050 inch (about 1.27 mm) The width of theprojections 118 can be greater than about 0.002 inch (about 0.050 mm).

FIG. 9 shows an alternative non-limiting embodiment in which thesurfaces of the rolls 124 and 126 comprise forming elements suitable forforming the micro-textured web in the patent application described aboveentitled “Process for Making a Micro-Textured Web”. The rolls shown inFIG. 9 comprise a roll 124 comprising male forming elements, protrusionsor projections 128, and a roll 126 comprising female forming elements,such as discrete and/or continuous voids 130, in the surface of the roll126. The projections 128 have center-to-center spacings of less thanabout 800 microns with at least three, at least four, or at least fiveof its adjacent forming elements. As shown in FIG. 9, the shapes of thefemale elements 130 may differ from the shapes of the mating maleelements 128. FIG. 9 also shows that the female elements 130 can beconfigured to mate with more than one male element 128.

FIG. 9A shows a portion of a forming structure having a combination ofvarious forming elements. As illustrated in FIG. 9A the forming elementsof either or both of the first and second forming structures can includeprojections such as protrusions 128 or recesses such as voids 130selected from discrete protrusions 128 (which can take the form ofpillars 132), discrete voids 130 (which can take the form of apertures134 or depressions 136), continuous voids 138, grooves, ridges, or acombination thereof. The forming structures can further include lands140 completely surrounding the forming elements.

The various types of rolls described above (as well as other types ofrolls having forming elements thereon) may be combined in any suitablecombinations in the different apparatuses described herein to deform aweb of material in a particular manner. The apparatuses may compriseseveral rolls comprising a single type of roll described above, or anysuitable combinations of two or more different types of rolls. The web10 can be fed through any suitable number of mechanical deformationprocesses. The number of mechanical deformation nips to which theprecursor web is subjected can range from one to between 2 and 100, ormore, nips.

There can also be variations of the arrangements of rolls in thedifferent apparatuses of interest herein. In the embodiment shown inFIG. 4, the rolls are arranged so that when a web is fed into nipsbetween the rolls, the web 10 will wrap less than 180° around one ormore of the rolls. In the variation of this embodiment shown in FIG. 10,the web is fed into the apparatus so that the web 10 will wrap greaterthan or equal to 180° around one or more of the rolls.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of an apparatus that can be used incarrying out the methods described herein. The apparatus shown in FIG.11 is a hybrid of the nested roll arrangement and the prior art pairedroll arrangement. In this embodiment, the apparatus includes rolls 144arranged in a hybrid arrangement such that there are multiple three tofour nested roll clusters 146 that can then be offset relative to eachother in the cross-machine direction.

FIG. 12 shows another embodiment of an apparatus that can be used incarrying out the methods described herein. The apparatus shown in FIG.12 will be referred to as a “nested closed loop” roll arrangement. Inthis apparatus, there are at least four rolls and the rolls are arrangedwith their peripheries adjacent to each other in the configuration of aclosed loop. The web 10 wraps around the peripheries of the rolls in analternating configuration with a portion of the web 10 on a portion of aroll that lies inside the periphery of the closed loop, followed bywrapping the web 10 around the next roll about a portion of the rollthat lies on the outside of the periphery of the closed loop. In thisembodiment, the total number of nips N formed by the rolls is equal tothe number of rolls.

FIG. 13 shows another embodiment of an apparatus 150 that can be used incarrying out the methods described herein. The apparatus 150 shown inFIG. 13 will be referred to as a “nested with shared bank” rollarrangement. In this apparatus, there are at least six rolls designatedgenerally by reference number 152. The rolls are arranged in at leastthree pairs of rolls comprising a first pair 154 comprising rolls 154Aand 154B, a second pair 156 comprising rolls 156A and 156B, and a thirdpair 158 comprising rolls 158A and 158B. In FIG. 13, additional pairs ofrolls are shown. The rolls 156A and 156B in the second pair of rollsform nips N with the rolls in both the first and third pairs of rolls154 and 158. In this embodiment, some of the rolls form three or morenips (up to four nips). In addition, as can be seen in FIG. 13, in thecase of at least one roll such as roll 156B, the web 10 passes adjacentto the roll, leaves the roll, and then returns to contact the rollagain. In this embodiment, when there are six rolls, the total number ofnips N formed by the rolls is equal to the number of rolls. Invariations of this embodiment comprising seven or more rolls, the totalnumber of nips N formed by the rolls can be greater than or equal to thenumber of rolls. For example, in FIG. 13, there are fourteen nips Nformed by only twelve rolls.

III. Methods for Deforming Web Materials and Deformed Web MaterialsFormed Thereby.

The following figures show non-limiting examples of specific rollarrangements, and the deformed web materials that can be formed thereby.

A. Methods Employing a Roll with Forming Elements Extending from aRaised Ridge.

FIG. 14 shows an example of an apparatus 160 that comprises a singlepair of rolls that form a single nip N therebetween. The rolls areconfigured for deforming a web with at least two sets of deformationsthat are oriented in different directions relative to the surfaces ofthe web. This can be accomplished by providing one of the rolls 162 witha plurality of ridges 164 and grooves 166 extending around thecircumference of the roll and a plurality of first spaced apart formingelements 168 extending outwardly from the top surface of the ridges 164,and providing a second roll 170 with a plurality of second formingelements 172 on its surface in which the tips of the second formingelements extend inward toward the axis of the first roll to a depthbeyond the top of at least some of the ridges 164 on the first roll 162.

The top roll 162 in the apparatus shown in FIG. 14 can comprise anysuitable type of roll that meets the criteria set out above. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 14, the top roll 162 is a variation of the RKAroll shown in FIG. 7. This particular variation will be referred toherein as a “raised ridge RKA roll”. As shown in FIG. 14, the top roll162 has a plurality of ridges 164 and grooves 166 extending around thecircumference of the roll on the surface of the roll. As shown in FIG.14A, the ridges 164 have a top surface 165 and the grooves 166 have abottom surface 167. The ridge height is defined as the distance betweenthe top surface of the ridge 165 and the bottom surface 167 of thegrooves 166. The tooth height is defined as the distance between the tip174 of the forming element 168 and the bottom surface 167 of the grooves166. In this embodiment, the distance between the top surfaces 165 ofthe ridges 164 and the bottom surfaces 167 of the grooves 166 issubstantially the same around the circumference of the roll. The ridgeheight depends on the amount of deformation that is required to form thesecond set of features. The ridge height is typically at least about 25%up to less than about 95% of the tooth height. The roll 162 furthercomprises a plurality of spaced apart first forming elements in the formof teeth 168 extending outwardly from the top surface of the ridges 164,as shown in greater detail in FIGS. 14A and 14C. The teeth 168 taperfrom the base where they are joined to the top surface 165 of the ridges164 to a pointed tip. As shown in FIG. 14A, the configuration of theroll 162 is such that the top surface 165 of the ridges 164 are disposedbetween the tips 174 of the teeth 168 and the bottom surface 167 of thegrooves 166, directionally relative to the axis A of the roll.

The bottom roll 170 in the apparatus shown in FIG. 14 can comprise anysuitable type of roll that meets the criteria set out above. The bottomor second roll 170 in FIG. 14 should, thus, comprise a roll withdiscrete second forming elements 172 thereon in which the tips of thesesecond forming elements 172 extend inward toward the axis of the firstroll 162 to a depth beyond the top 165 of at least some of the ridges164 on the first roll, top roll 162. The bottom roll 170 can, forexample, comprise a standard CD SELF roll (as in FIG. 6), a staggered CDSELF roll (as in FIG. 6A), an RKA roll (as in FIG. 7), another raisedridge RKA roll, or a raised ridge SELF roll (as in FIG. 14B). In theparticular embodiment shown in FIG. 14, the bottom roll 170 comprises astaggered CD SELF roll such as the roll shown in FIG. 6A. Of course, thepositions of the rolls shown in FIG. 14 can be reversed, or be arrangedin any other suitable orientation (such as side-by-side) so long as theyform a nip therebetween.

The web 10, in its initial state, can be thought of as being comprisedentirely of undeformed regions. When the web 10 is fed into the nip Nbetween the rolls shown in FIG. 14, the web is deformed: (i) by thefirst forming elements 168 of the top roll 162 to form a plurality ofspaced apart first features in first locations; and (ii) by the secondforming elements 172 of the bottom roll 170 in different locations thanthe first locations to form a plurality of spaced apart second featuresin second locations such that the second features are distributedbetween the first features. As the first set of features is formed, theraised ridge supports the web so that the second set of features can beformed in the opposite direction. If the raised ridge is not present,the set of features that is easiest to form (such as apertures in thisexample) will be formed first, and the second set of features will neverbe formed, or if the second features are formed, they will not be formedin the desired feature size and/or shape.

FIG. 15 shows an example of a web 10 that can be made by a variation ofthe apparatus shown in FIG. 14. The variation of the apparatus used toform the web shown in FIG. 15 comprises an RKA roll for the upper roll162 as shown in FIG. 14, but with a standard (non-staggered tooth)pattern, and the lower roll 170 is replaced with a standard(non-staggered) CD SELF roll such as shown in roll 74 in FIG. 6. As usedherein, the term “standard” means that the forming elements on a singleroll are aligned in rows in the machine direction and the cross-machinedirection. The rolls 162 and 170 are aligned or phased in the machinedirection such that the forming elements 172 on the SELF roll align withthe ridges 164 on the RKA roll. As the teeth 168 on the RKA roll 162penetrate the web 10, the ridges 164 between the teeth 168 on the RKAroll support the web 10 such that the SELF teeth 172 can penetrate theweb 10 and simultaneously form elements in the opposite direction.

In the example of the web shown in FIG. 15, the web has a first surface10A and a second surface 10B and discrete deformations formed therein.The web 10 comprises: substantially undeformed regions 180, whichcorrespond to the first and second surfaces 10A and 10B of the web. InFIG. 15, web 10 further comprises a plurality of spaced apart firstfeatures such as apertures 182, and a plurality of spaced apart secondfeatures such as tufts 184. The apertures 182 are pushed out of theplane of the web 10 in one direction (downward as viewed in FIG. 15),and the tufts 184 are pushed out of the plane of the web 10 in theopposite direction. As shown in FIG. 15, the apertures 182 are alignedin rows in the MD and the CD. The tufts 184 are also aligned in rows inthe MD and CD. The rows of tufts 184 are, however, aligned between therows of apertures 182 in the MD and the CD, with the rows of tufts 184being offset in the CD such that they are separated from the adjacentrows of apertures 182 by a distance of up to one half of the pitchbetween the apertures 182 in the cross-machine direction (CD).

FIG. 15 shows one example of a combination of features that can comprisethe first and second formed features. Although combinations of aperturesand tufts are frequently shown in the drawings, it should be understood,however, that in all of the embodiments described herein the firstfeatures and second features are not limited to apertures and tufts, andthat the first features and second features can, depending on theconfiguration of the forming elements, comprise any other suitablecombinations and configurations of features. The present invention is,thus, not limited to the combination of features shown in FIG. 15 andthe figures that follow, and is intended to cover all possiblecombinations and configurations of the features described herein. Inaddition, the present invention is not limited to forming two featuresin a web in first and second locations. It is also contemplated thatadditional features can be formed into the web in third, fourth, fifth,or more, locations.

The configuration of the rolls shown in FIG. 14 may provide a number ofadvantages. The rolls can, within a single nip, form a web that hasintermixed features oriented in multiple directions (for example,apertures 182 may be pushed out of the plane of the web in onedirection, and tufts 184 may be pushed out of the plane of the web inthe opposite direction). The features may be distributed within the webso that they are consistently less than one pitch apart. Thus, if twodifferent types of features are formed, the spacing between dissimilarelements may be less than spacing between like elements.

Various alternative embodiments of the raised ridge rolls are possible.For example, FIG. 14D shows an alternative embodiment of the raisedridge RKA roll 162A in which the height, H, of the ridges 164 variesbetween at least some of the teeth 168. In such a case, the top surface165 of at least one ridge 164 between a pair of forming elements 168will have a height H1 that is at least 20% greater than the height H2 ofanother ridge 164 between another pair of forming elements 168. Thisroll 162A could be used in a process such as that shown in FIG. 14 inplace of the raised ridge RKA roll 162. FIG. 14B shows yet anotheralternative type of roll that could be used, which will be referred toherein as a “raised ridge SELF roll” 162B. As shown in FIG. 14B, thisroll 162B has teeth 168 that are configured to form ridges rather thanpoints.

A variation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 14 can utilize an additionalroll and a two step process. The apparatus used for such a variation canresemble the planetary roll arrangement shown in FIG. 2. This apparatusneed only comprise a central roll 32 and a first satellite roll 34 and asecond satellite roll 36. The apparatus differs from known planetaryroll arrangements in that it utilizes the new roll configurationsdescribed herein. The objective of such a modified planetary rollarrangement is to form two sets of deformations in the web, and tofurther deform one of the sets of deformations at one of the nips. Insuch an apparatus, the central roll 32 can comprise a raised ridge roll,such as a raised ridge SELF roll in FIG. 14B or a raised ridge RKA roll,such as rolls 162 or 162A. One of the satellite rolls 34 or 36 comprisesa roll having a plurality of discontinuous ridges and grooves thereon inthe form of discrete forming elements. The other satellite roll hascontinuous ridges and grooves thereon, such as a ring roll. The nipbetween the raised ridge central roll 32 and the satellite roll havingdiscrete forming elements will be referred to herein as the “primarynip” since this is the nip where two sets of deformations are formed.The nip between the raised ridge central roll 32 and the satellite rollthat has continuous ridges and grooves thereon will be referred toherein as the “secondary nip”. The secondary nip can occur either beforeor after the primary nip. The depth of engagement can be the same in theprimary and secondary nips; or, the depth of engagement may vary betweennips (for example, so that the depth of engagement at the downstream nipis greater).

In one non-limiting example of a case in which the secondary nip occursbefore the primary nip, the first satellite roll 34 can comprise a ringroll and the second satellite roll 36 can comprise a SELF roll. In suchan embodiment, at the secondary nip between the raised ridge centralroll 32 and the ring roll 34, the raised ridge central roll 32 will forma first set of deformations into the web (for example, three dimensionalapertures if the central roll 32 is a raised ridge RKA roll, orprotrusions if the central roll 32 is a raised ridge SELF roll). Inaddition, the ring roll in the secondary nip can pre-strain the web inthe same CD location that the SELF roll will impact the web downstreamin the primary nip, pre-weakening the web and making it easier to formthe second set of deformations. Then, downstream at the primary nipbetween the raised ridge central roll 32 and the second satellite SELFroll 36, a second set of deformations can be formed into the web by theSELF roll and the first set of deformations can be enlarged by theraised ridge central roll 32.

In one non-limiting example of a case in which the secondary nip occursafter the primary nip, the first satellite roll 34 can comprise a SELFroll and the second satellite roll 36 can comprise a ring roll. In suchan embodiment, at the primary nip between the raised ridge central roll32 and the first satellite SELF roll 34, these rolls will combine toform a first and a second set of deformations into the web (for example,the central roll 32 will form three dimensional apertures if the centralroll 32 is a raised ridge RKA roll, or protrusions if the central roll32 is a raised ridge SELF roll, and the SELF roll will form protrusionsor tufts). Then, downstream at the secondary nip between the raisedridge central roll 32 and the second satellite ring roll 36, the firstset of deformations formed by the raised ridge central roll 32 can beenlarged by the raised ridge central roll 32.

The variation of the apparatus of FIG. 14 described above may be usefulin providing greater flexibility in forming deformations than theapparatus shown in FIG. 14. In the apparatus shown in FIG. 14, which hasa single nip, the amount of deformation that can be imparted by thefirst and second forming components 162 and 170 is dependent upon thegeometry of the tooling and the depth of engagement of the formingcomponents. These aspects are tied to one another when there is a singlenip. The variation of the apparatus described above may provide theadvantages of: (1) allowing independent control over formation of thefirst and second sets of deformations that are being formed; and, insome configurations, (2) pre-straining the material in the locationswhere the second set of deformations are to be formed.

B. Methods Utilizing Multiple Deformation Steps.

The methods of interest herein may also utilize multiple deformationsteps. Such multiple deformation steps can be carried out by anysuitable apparatuses described in the foregoing section of thisdescription. Although the methods that utilize multiple deformationsteps are shown as being carried out on nested apparatuses having arelatively small number of rolls in a standard nested arrangement, itshould be understood that this is done for simplicity of illustration,and any of the apparatuses described herein (such as the hybrid, closedloop, and shared bank apparatuses) could be used with any suitablenumber of rolls in order to carry out the desired deformation.

Apparatuses that utilize multiple deformation steps for forminginter-mixed features typically comprise a minimum of three nips formedby a minimum of four rolls. Two of the nips are deformation nips inwhich the web is permanently deformed to form a first-time deformedprecursor web with a first set of features and a second-time deformedprecursor web with a second set of features. The third nip may be atransfer nip disposed between the deformation nips in which the web isnot permanently deformed. The transfer nip may be used to dispose adifferent side of the web for a subsequent deformation step such thatdifferent sets of features can be formed on opposite sides of the web.The transfer nip can also be used to off-set the rolls in subsequentdeformation steps such that the different sets of features can be formedin different CD lanes, enabling tighter spacing of features. Dependingon the configuration and arrangement of the rolls, the forming elementsin the second deformation nip can contact the web in one of thefollowing locations: 1) the same location as in the first deformationnip; 2) at least partially different locations wherein at least some ofthe locations at least partially coincide with the first location; and3) in completely different locations.

The deformation nips comprise a first roll with discrete male elementsthereon and a second roll that is capable of mating with the first rollto form discrete features. The first roll may comprise a SELF roll, RKAroll, or male embossing roll. The second roll preferably comprises aring roll or a female emboss roll, depending on the type of roll that ischosen for the first roll. In some the cases, it may be desirable forthe second roll to comprise discrete male elements, for example when itis desired to use the process to reduce the density of drylap or otherwetlaid structures. The rolls that comprise the transfer nips may becapable of being arranged in either: i) a tip-tip configuration in whichthe outwardmost portions on the surface of the rolls substantially alignto form a nip, or ii) an off-set configuration in which the outwardmostportions on the surface of the rolls are capable of meshing. Any of therolls listed above (SELF roll, RKA roll, ring roll, male embossing roll,female embossing roll) can be used for the rolls in the transfer nip.Several specific embodiments are detailed below in which the rolls withthe discrete male forming elements thereon that are used to formdeformations into the web are the first and the last rolls in theapparatus.

FIG. 16 shows an example of an apparatus 190 for deforming a web 10 thatcomprises multiple rolls arranged in a nested configuration. In thisembodiment, the apparatus has four rolls 192, 194, 196, and 198. Inapparatuses that utilize multiple deformation steps, some of the nipscan be used to deform the web, and some of the nips, particularly theintermediate nips located between the nips used to deform the web, canbe used for other purposes, such as transferring the web. For example,in some non-limiting embodiments, such as shown in FIG. 16, some of therolls 194 and 196 can form an intermediate nip N2 which is used toexpose a different side of the web for a subsequent deformation step. Itshould be understood, however, that in any of the embodiments describedherein, the rolls with the discrete male forming elements thereon thatare used to form deformations into the web need not be the first and thelast rolls in the apparatus. In other embodiments, the rolls with thediscrete male forming elements thereon can comprise one or more of theintermediate rolls. For example, the rolls with the discrete maleforming elements thereon can comprise the two intermediate rolls formingthe transfer nip, and the first and last rolls can comprise rolls withmating female forming elements. Alternatively, the rolls may alternatesuch that every other roll contains discrete male forming elementsthereon and every other roll in between comprises rolls with matingfemale forming elements thereon. Regardless of the configurations of therolls, there may be at least one non-permanently deforming transfer stepin-between the deformation steps.

The process carried out in the example on the apparatus shown in FIG. 16comprises initially feeding the web 10 into a first nip N1 that isformed between a first pair of generally cylindrical intermeshing rollscomprising a first roll 192 and a second roll 194. In this example, thefirst roll 192 has a surface with discrete male forming elements 200thereon. The first roll 192 can comprise any suitable type of rollhaving such properties including, but not limited to: a male embossingroll, an RKA roll, or a SELF roll. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 16,the first roll 192 comprises an RKA roll. The second roll 194 should becapable of forming a nip with the first roll 192 to form permanentdeformations in the web 10. The second roll 194 should also be capableof cooperating with the third roll 196 to maintain control of the web 10and transfer the web, without permanently deforming the same, to adownstream deforming nip. The second roll 194 has a surface withprojections 202 and/or recesses 204 thereon, wherein any projections 202or the portions of the roll between any recesses form the radiallyoutwardmost portions 206 on the surface of the second roll 194. Thesecond roll 194 can comprise any suitable type of roll having suchproperties including, but not limited to: a male or female embossingroll, a ring roll, or a SELF roll. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 16,the second roll 194 comprises a ring roll. The nip N1 between theintermeshing first and second rolls 192 and 194 is shown incross-section in FIG. 16A.

The third roll 196 should also be capable of cooperating with the secondroll 194 to maintain control of the web 10 and transfer the web, withoutpermanently deforming the same, to a downstream deforming nip. The thirdroll 196 has a surface with projections 208 and/or recesses 210 thereon,wherein any projections 208 or the portions of the roll between anyrecesses 210 form the radially outwardmost portions 212 on the surfaceof the third roll 196. The third roll 196 can comprise any suitable typeof roll having such properties including, but not limited to: a male orfemale embossing roll, a ring roll, or a SELF roll. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 16, the third roll 196 comprises a ring roll. The nip N2between the second 194 and third 196 rolls is shown in cross-section inFIG. 16B. As shown in cross-section in FIG. 16B, the third roll 196 doesnot intermesh with the second roll 194. Instead, the rolls are arrangedso that the outwardmost portions 202 on the second roll 194 align withthe outwardmost portions 212 of the third roll 196. The alignment ofrolls with the web shown in FIG. 16B may be referred to herein as a“tip-to-tip” transfer. This transfers the web 10 and orients the web sothat the second surface 10B of the web 10 faces outward on the thirdroll 196. For rolls comprising ridges and grooves, the tip-tip transferalso aligns the rolls in the subsequent deformation nip such that thesecond set of formed features are substantially aligned in the CD withthe first set of formed features. The gap between the transfer rolls isset such that the web is not permanently deformed in the nip, but therolls are in close enough proximity to ensure there are no free spans ofweb greater than 2 cm and the web remains in registration.

The web 10 is then fed into a third nip N3 between the third roll 196and a fourth roll 198. The nip N3 between the intermeshing third andfourth rolls is shown in cross-section in FIG. 16C. The fourth roll 198has a surface with discrete forming elements 214 thereon. The fourthroll 198 can comprise any suitable type of roll having such propertiesincluding, but not limited to: a male embossing roll, an RKA roll, or aSELF roll. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 16, the fourth roll 198comprises a SELF roll. If it is desired to create intermixed features asshown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the rolls in the deformation nips should bephased such that the first and second sets of formed features are formedin at least partially different locations relative to each other.

The elements on the various rolls shown in FIG. 16 include, but are notlimited to: cross-machine direction elements, machine directionelements, elements that are aligned in rows or have a staggeredalignment of forming elements, elements that are not aligned in rowswith uneven/irregular spacing, and elements on rolls having a raisedridge configuration. The meshing pairs of rolls should be designed andconfigured in a way that allows for sufficient clearance of the web atthe desired depth of engagement.

When the precursor web 10 is fed into the first nip N1 in the apparatusshown in FIG. 16, the web 10 is deformed in a first location to form afirst set of formed features in the web 10. The first set of formedfeatures comprises portions in first locations of the web that extendoutward from the second surface 10B of the web. Examples of such formedfeatures are shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, which are described in greaterdetail below. The type and alignment of the formed features depends onthe configuration and alignment of the rolls. The precursor web 10 isthen fed into a second nip N2 to contact the web 10 and transfer the webfrom the second roll 194 to the third roll 196. This transfers the web10 and orients the web so that the second surface 10B of the web 10faces outward on the third roll 196. When the web is fed into the thirdnip N3 between the third and fourth rolls 196 and 198, the web 10 isdeformed in second locations in which at least some of the formingelements 214 in the third nip N3 deform the first-time deformedprecursor web at least partially in different locations and in adifferent orientation than the precursor web was deformed in the firstnip N1. In the third nip, the web 10 is permanently deformed in secondlocations to form a second set of formed features in the web. The secondset of formed features comprises portions that extend outward from thefirst surface 10A of the web to form a second time-deformed precursorweb.

FIG. 17 shows an embodiment of a nonwoven web 10 made using theapparatus shown in FIG. 16, in which the first roll 192 is a staggeredRKA roll and the fourth roll 198 is a staggered CD SELF roll. In FIG.17, the first features (in the first locations), which are formed in thefirst nip N1, comprise a plurality of spaced apart apertures 182. Thesecond features (in the second locations), which are subsequently formedin the third nip N3, comprise a plurality of spaced apart tufts 184. Theapertures 182 are pushed out of the plane of the web in one direction(downward as viewed in FIG. 17), and the tufts 184 are pushed out of theplane of the web in the opposite direction (upward). As shown in FIG.17, the apertures 182 are aligned in rows in the MD, the CD, anddiagonally. The tufts 184 are also aligned in rows in the MD, the CD,and diagonally. However, there are spaces between each of the apertures182 and a tuft 184 is located in each of these spaces. In other words,the tufts 184 are intermixed with the apertures. The first and secondfeatures may lie in substantially the same MD and CD rows so that thefirst and second features alternate in the MD and CD. In thisembodiment, the tufts 184 may be separated from the adjacent rows ofapertures 182 by a distance in the cross-machine direction (CD)approximately equal to the pitch between the rows of apertures 184.

When the features are described as being substantially aligned, or lyingin substantially the same rows, this refers to at least a majority ofthe specified features. Thus, if the second features are described aslying substantially in the same rows as the first features, at least amajority of the second features lie in the same rows as the firstfeatures. Of course, in any of the embodiments described herein, thefirst and second features may be offset relative to each other so thatthey do not lie in substantially the same rows. The second features alsoneed not be spaced between the first features such that there in equalspacing between the features on each side.

FIG. 18 shows an embodiment of a nonwoven web 10 made using theapparatus shown in FIG. 16, in which the first roll 192 is a standardRKA roll and the fourth roll 198 is a standard CD SELF roll. In FIG. 18,the first features, which are formed in the first nip N1, comprise aplurality of spaced apart apertures 182, and the second features, whichare subsequently formed in the third nip N3, comprise a plurality ofspaced apart tufts 184. The apertures 182 are pushed out of the plane ofthe web 10 in one direction (downward as viewed in FIG. 18), and thetufts 184 are pushed out of the plane of the web 10 in the oppositedirection (upward). As shown in FIG. 18, the apertures 182 aresubstantially aligned in rows in the MD and the CD. The tufts 184 arealso substantially aligned in rows in the MD and CD. The rows of tufts184 are, however, aligned between the rows of apertures 182 in the MD sothat there is a row of tufts 184 between every row of apertures 182, andthe tufts 184 and apertures 182 alternate in each MD row. The distancebetween the features in adjacent MD rows is approximately equal to thepitch in the cross-machine direction (CD).

FIG. 19 shows a non-limiting example of an apparatus 220 and processthat is used to deform a web so that subsequent deformations are formedin a different orientation and at a different CD location than priordeformations. Such a process may be used to achieve tighter spacingbetween deformations than might otherwise be possible, particularly inthose processes with rolls containing ridges and grooves.

The apparatus 220 shown in FIG. 19 comprises four rolls, 222, 224, 226,and 228. The apparatus 220 shown in FIG. 19 is similar to the apparatusshown in FIG. 16, except with respect to the alignment of the rolls inthe nip N2 between the second and third rolls 224 and 226. The rollsforming the nip N2 are arranged in an offset manner, rather than in atip-to-tip manner. The second and third rolls 224 and 226 are ofconfigurations that are capable of at least partially intermeshing. Inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 19, the second and third rolls, 224 and226, can comprise surfaces with discrete and/or continuous formingelements thereon. The nips between the various rolls of the apparatus220 shown in FIG. 19 are shown in FIGS. 19A, 19B, and 19C. As shown inFIG. 19A, the first nip N1 between the first and second rolls 222 and224 may be similar to the first nip of the apparatus shown in FIG. 16.The forming elements 230 on the first roll 222 intermesh with the(projections 232 and) recesses 234 on the second roll 224. FIG. 19Bshows the second nip N2 between the second and third rolls 224 and 226.As shown in FIG. 19B, the second and third rolls 224 and 226 are notaligned with the elements thereon in a tip-to-tip alignment as in thecase of apparatus shown in FIG. 16, but are instead aligned so that thetips 236 and 242, respectively, of the elements on one of the rollsalign with the grooves 240 and 234, respectively, on the opposing roll.The registration of the second and third rolls 224 and 226, however,does not require that the tips 236 and 242, respectively, of theelements on one of the rolls align exactly with the center of thegrooves on the opposing roll. The tips of the elements can be offsetfrom the center of the grooves on the opposing roll, if desired. Asshown in FIG. 19C, the third nip N3 between the third and fourth rolls226 and 228 is similar to that in the apparatus shown in FIG. 16. Thedifference in alignment of the second and third rolls 224 and 226 causesthe alignment of the forming elements 244 on the fourth roll 228 to beshifted (such as a distance of up to one-half pitch) relative to thealignment in apparatus shown in FIG. 16. The intermediate second andthird rolls 224 and 226 can be aligned to provide any suitable shift inthe alignment of the forming elements 244 on the fourth roll 228 (and,thus, the web 10 deformed thereby) up to one-half the pitch between theforming elements on the roll used to form the first set of features.

When the precursor web 10 is fed into the apparatus shown in FIG. 19, inthe first nip N1 (shown in FIG. 19A), the precursor web 10 is deformedin a first location to form a first set of formed features in the web,such as the three dimensional apertures 182 shown in FIG. 20. Theapertures 182 extend outward from the second surface 10B of the web(downward in FIG. 20). The web 10 is then fed into the second nip N2(shown in FIG. 19B) in order to contact the web 10 and transfer theprecursor web 10 from the second roll 224 to the third roll 226. Thethird roll 226 has a surface with a plurality of outwardly-extendingmale elements 238 on its surface. As shown in FIG. 19B, the rolls arearranged so that the outwardly-extending male elements 232 on the secondroll 224 are aligned in a cross-machine direction between theoutwardly-extending male elements 238 on the third roll 226, and thesecond surface 10B of the web faces outward on the third roll 226. Thethird roll 226 either: (i) does not intermesh with the second roll; or(ii) intermeshes with the second roll but not to the extent that theprecursor web 10 will be permanently deformed in the second nip N2. Theweb 10 is then fed into a third nip N3 (shown in FIG. 19C) between thethird roll 226 and the fourth roll 228. The fourth roll 228 has formingelements 244 on its surface. When the precursor web 10 is fed into thethird nip N3, the precursor web 10 is deformed in a second location. Inthis step, at least some of the forming elements 244 in the third nip N3deform the first-time deformed precursor web 10 at least partially indifferent (or second) locations than the precursor web 10 was deformedin the first nip N1. This forms a second set of formed features in theweb, wherein the features comprise portions that extend outward from thefirst surface 10A of the web to form a second time-deformed precursorweb 10.

Any suitable combinations of the apparatuses and processes describedherein are also possible. FIG. 21, for example shows an embodiment of aprocess and apparatus that combines some of the features in theprocesses shown in FIGS. 16 and 19. In this embodiment, the apparatus250 has five rolls 252, 254, 256, 258, and 260. The process carried outon this apparatus comprises initially feeding the precursor web 10 intoa first nip N1 that is formed between a first pair of generallycylindrical intermeshing rolls. The first pair of intermeshing rollscomprises a first roll 252 and a second roll 254. The first roll 252 hasa surface with discrete male forming elements 262 thereon, and thesecond roll 254 has a surface with projections 264 and/or recesses 266thereon, wherein any projections 264 or the portions of the second rollbetween any recesses form the radially outwardmost portions 268 on thesurface of the second roll 254. When the precursor web 10 is fed intothe first nip N1 (shown in FIG. 21A), the precursor web 10 is deformedin a first location to form a first set of formed features in the web.The first set of formed features comprises portions that extend outwardfrom the second surface 10B of the web. The precursor web 10 is then fedinto the second nip N2 (shown in FIG. 21B) to contact the web 10 andtransfer the web 10 from the second roll 254 to the third roll 256. Thethird roll 256 has a surface with projections 270 and/or recesses 272thereon, wherein any projections 272 or the portions of the roll betweenany recesses form the radially outwardmost portions 274 on its surface.The third roll 256 does not intermesh with the second roll 254. Therolls are arranged so that the outwardmost portions 268 on the secondroll 254 substantially align with the outwardmost portions 274 on thethird roll 256 to perform a tip-to-tip transfer of the web 10, and thesecond surface 10B of the web faces outward on the third roll 256. Theprecursor web 10 is then fed into a third nip N3 (shown in FIG. 21C) tocontact the web 10 and transfer the web from the third roll 256 to thefourth roll 258. The fourth roll 258 has a surface with projections 276and/or recesses 278 thereon, wherein any projections or the portions ofthe fourth roll 258 between any recesses form the radially outwardmostportions 280 on its surface. The rolls are arranged so that theoutwardmost portions 274 on the third roll 256 are aligned in across-machine direction between the outwardmost portions 280 on thefourth roll 258, and the first surface 10A of the web faces outward onthe fourth roll 258. The web 10 is then fed into a fourth nip N4 (shownin FIG. 21D) between the fourth roll 258 and a fifth roll 260. The fifthroll 260 has forming elements 282 on its surface. When the web 10 is fedinto the fourth nip N4, the web 10 is deformed in a second location inwhich at least some of the forming elements 282 in the fourth nip N4deform the first-time deformed precursor web at least partially indifferent locations than the web was deformed in the first nip N1 toform a second set of formed features in the web, wherein the featurescomprise portions that also extend outward from the second surface 10Bof the web to form a second time-deformed precursor web. Such anapparatus 250 can be used for numerous purposes including, but notlimited to, deforming the web in different CD lanes for increaseddensity of formed features, or intermixing elements that cannoteconomically be machined into a single roll.

FIG. 22 shows an embodiment of a nonwoven web 10 made using theapparatus shown in FIG. 21, in which the first roll 252 is a standard CDSELF roll and the fifth roll 260 is a standard RKA roll, and the second,third and fourth rolls are ring rolls. In FIG. 22, the second regionscomprise a plurality of spaced apart apertures 182, and the thirdregions comprise a plurality of spaced apart tufts 184. The apertures182 and tufts 184 are both pushed out of the plane of the web in thesame direction (shown as being upward). As shown in FIG. 22, theapertures 182 are aligned in rows in the MD and the CD. The rows oftufts 184 are, however, aligned between the rows of apertures 182 in theMD and the CD, with the rows of tufts 184 being offset in the CD suchthat they are separated from the adjacent rows of apertures 182 by adistance of up to one half of the pitch between the apertures 182 in thecross-machine direction (CD).

FIG. 23 shows an embodiment of a nonwoven web 10 made using a variationof the planetary roll apparatus shown in FIG. 14. In the apparatus usedto form the web shown in FIG. 23, the satellite rolls can comprisediscrete male forming elements, and the central/sun roll can havecontinuous (as in grooves) or discrete female elements with which thediscrete forming elements can mesh. For example, the central roll can bea ring roll, and the two satellite rolls can comprise a staggered RKAroll and a staggered SELF roll, which are phased in the MD to be offsetso they impact the web in different MD locations. In FIG. 23, the secondregions comprise a plurality of spaced apart apertures 182, and thethird regions comprise a plurality of spaced apart tufts 184. Theapertures 182 and tufts 184 are both pushed out of the plane of the webin the same direction (shown as being upward). As shown in FIG. 23, theapertures 182 are aligned in rows in the MD, the CD, and diagonally. Thetufts 184 are also aligned in rows in the MD, the CD, and diagonally.However, there are spaces between each of the apertures 182 in the MDand CD rows of apertures 182, and a tuft is located in each of thesespaces. In other words, the tufts 184 are intermixed with the apertures182 and may lie in substantially the same MD and CD rows as theapertures 182 such that the second and third regions alternate in the MDand CD. The tufts 184 are separated from the adjacent rows of apertures182 by a distance in the cross-machine direction (CD) approximatelyequal to the pitch between the apertures 182.

C. Alternative Embodiments.

Numerous alternative embodiments of the deformed web materials andmethods of making the same are possible.

The methods described herein need not always be used to produceintermixed sets of elements that are in different locations on a web. Inalternative embodiments, the method can, for example, comprise feeding aweb through a “nested roll” arrangement in which at least two of therolls define two or more nips thereon with other rolls, and theapparatus can be configured to deform the web in the same location ateach nip. Such an apparatus and method can be used to lower the strainrate on the areas of the web that are impacted to produce deformations.For example, it may be desirable to initially deform the web to a degreein an initial nip, and then deform the web to a greater degree in asubsequent nip.

In some alternative embodiments, the method can comprise feeding a webthrough an apparatus with multiple deformation nips, and the apparatuscan be configured to deform the web in the same location, but on theopposite surface of the web. This could be useful for reducing thedensity of drylap or other wetlaid structures.

In other alternative embodiments, the method can comprise feeding a webthrough an apparatus with multiple deformation nips, and the apparatuscan be configured to deform the web in the same location and on the samesurface of the web, but the size and/or shape of the forming elements inthe first deformation nip is different from that of the forming elementsin the subsequent deformation nip. Such an apparatus could, for example,be used to initially form a formed element (such as a three-dimensionalregion with an aperture, a protrusion, or depression) at a first nip,and then, at a second nip, to make the formed element larger, or of adifferent shape.

In other embodiments, deformed web materials can be provided which havedifferent regions across their surface with different features therein.For example, a deformed web material can be provided which has a firstregion with a first combination of features (such as tufts extendingupward that are intermixed with downwardly extending tufts), and asecond region with a second combination of features (such asupwardly-oriented tufts and downwardly-oriented apertures).

In any of the embodiments described herein, the web can comprise one ormore layers. Additional webs may be introduced at any of the differentnips. The additional layers may be used to add webs having differentchemical compositions, formulations, aesthetics, conductive properties,aromatic properties, and mechanical properties. Such additional webs maybe selected so that they may or may not span the entire width of the webor webs that were introduced upstream of such additional web(s). Thismay be used to create a laminate in which some regions of the laminatecontain a different number of layers from other regions. In otherlaminate structures, the regions may contain the same number of layers,but some deformed features could have a different number of layersthrough their thickness. For example, tufts could be formed into anonwoven web material 14 in a first nip, and then a film 16 could beintroduced in a second nip downstream of the first nip. Such a methodcould be used to form film/nonwoven tufts in a second nip. As shown inFIG. 24, the overall laminate may comprise some tufts 184 with anonwoven with a film spanning below the tufts (in those locations notimpacted by forming elements in the second nip), while other tufts(impacted by the forming elements in the second nip) will contain boththe film and nonwoven within the tuft. Numerous variations of such amethod, and the resulting structures are possible, depending on theforming elements and the type and order of introduction of the differentwebs. The multi-hit process described herein enables independent controlof the features formed in a multi-layer structure, providing additionalcontrol over the function and aesthetics of the features.

In another alternative embodiment, the method can comprise feeding a webthrough an apparatus that comprises multiple nips formed by SELF rollsin order to more gradually strain a web than is possible with ringrolling processes. SELF rolls are known to more gradually strain a webthan ring rolls, since less material is locked on the tooth andconstrained during the deformation step. The apparatus can be configuredto deform the web in multiple discrete locations such as in a firstlocation on the web, then immediately adjacent to the first location.The deformation steps are repeated until all the regions within a roware deformed and form a continuous band of deformations that resemble aring rolled web. The SELF rolls in such an apparatus can comprise CD,MD, or staggered CD or MD SELF rolls. The rolls in such an apparatuswill typically all be either CD or MD SELF rolls. The depth ofengagement of the SELF teeth in such an embodiment may, but need not, beincreased in downstream nips.

EXAMPLES

In one non-limiting example for making inter-mixed apertures and tuftsoriented in opposite directions in a nonwoven web material, like thatshown in FIG. 15, an apparatus can be used that comprises a 80 pitchraised ridge RKA roll intermeshed with a 80 pitch SELF roll, like thatshown in FIG. 14C. When a number, such as “80” is given to describe thepitch, this refers to the number in thousands of an inch (0.0254 mm) Thenonwoven material can have any suitable basis weight, down to about 15gsm. In this example, it comprises a 28 gsm spunbonded polyethylenesheath/polypropylene core bicomponent fiber nonwoven. The raised ridgeRKA roll has discrete forming elements that are oriented so the longdirection runs in the MD. The teeth are arranged in a standard pattern,meaning adjacent teeth align in rows in the CD. The teeth on the RKAroll have a pyramidal shape with 6 sides that taper from the base to asharp point at the tip. The tooth height TH is 0.270 inch (6.9 mm), theridge height is 0.170 inch (4.3 mm), the side wall angle on the longside of the tooth is about 5 degrees and the side wall angle of theleading and trailing edges of the teeth is 28.5 degrees. The RKA rollcomprises teeth that are evenly spaced in the MD, with a tip to tipspacing in the MD of 0.320 inch (8.1 mm) and a CD pitch P of 0.080 inch(2 mm) The teeth on the SELF roll are also arranged in a standardpattern and are oriented such that the long direction runs in the MD.The teeth have a uniform circumferential length dimension TL of about0.080 inch (2 mm) measured generally from the leading edge LE to thetrailing edge TE, a tooth tip radius TR at the tooth tip of about 0.005inch (0.13 mm), are uniformly spaced from one another circumferentiallyby a distance TD of 0.240 inch (6.1 mm), and have a tooth height TH ofabout 0.270 inch (6.9 mm) The long sides of the teeth have a side wallangle of about 3 degrees, and the leading and trailing edges of theteeth have vertical side walls. Both rolls have a diameter of about 5.7inch (14.5 cm) and are heated to a temperature of 130 deg C. The RKA andthe SELF roll are aligned in the CD such that the clearances on eitherside of the teeth are about equal. The RKA and SELF rolls are MD phasedsuch that the forming teeth on the SELF roll align with the raisedridges on the RKA roll, and the rolls are engaged to a depth of 0.250inch (6.4 mm).

In a second non-limiting example for making inter-mixed apertures andtufts oriented in opposite directions in a nonwoven web material, likethat shown in FIG. 17, a 4-roll nested apparatus with a tip-tip transferroll can be used, such as that shown in FIG. 16. The nonwoven materialcan have any suitable basis weight, down to about 15 gsm. In thisexample, it comprises a 28 gsm spunbonded polyethylenesheath/polypropylene core bicomponent fiber nonwoven. The first nip N1comprises a 100 pitch staggered RKA roll intermeshed with a 100 pitchring roll at 0.200 inch (5.1 mm) depth of engagement. The teeth on theRKA roll have a pyramidal shape with six sides that taper from the baseto a sharp point at the tip and are oriented so the long direction runsin the MD. The teeth are arranged in a staggered pattern, with a CDpitch P of 0.100 inch (2.5 mm) and a uniform tip to tip spacing in theMD of 0.250 inch (6.5 mm) The tooth height TH is 0.270 inch (6.9 mm),the side wall angle on the long side of the tooth is 4.7 degrees and theside wall angle of the leading and trailing edges of the teeth is 22.5degrees. The 100 pitch ring roll also has a CD pitch P of 0.100 inch, atooth height TH of 0.270 inch, a tip radius TR of 0.005 inch, and a sidewall angle of 4.7 degrees. The RKA roll and ring roll are aligned in theCD such that the clearances on either side of the teeth are about equal.The second nip N2 comprises a 100 pitch ring roll aligned with a second100 pitch ring roll, in a tip-tip configuration (as shown in FIG. 16B)with a −0.050″ (−1.25 mm) depth of engagement. The third nip N3comprises a 100 pitch ring roll intermeshed with a 100 pitch SELF rollat 0.135 inch (3.4 mm) depth of engagement. The teeth on the 100 pitchSELF roll form a staggered pattern, are oriented such that the longdimension runs in the MD, and have a CD pitch P of about 0.100 inch. Theteeth have a uniform circumferential length dimension TL of about 0.120inch (3 mm) measured generally from the leading edge LE to the trailingedge TE, a tooth tip radius TR at the tooth tip of about 0.005 inch(0.127 mm), are uniformly spaced from one another circumferentially by adistance TD of about 0.130 inch (3.3 mm), and have a tooth height TH ofabout 0.270 inch (6.9 mm) The long sides of the teeth have a side wallangle of about 4.7 degrees, and the leading and trailing edges of theteeth have vertical side walls. The SELF roll and ring roll are alignedin the CD such that the clearances on either side of the teeth are aboutequal. All four rolls (RKA roll, SELF roll, two ring rolls) have adiameter of about 5.7 inches (14.5 cm). The SELF and RKA rolls are MDphased such that the tufts are formed approximately half-way between theapertures in the MD.

The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood asbeing strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead,unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean boththe recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding thatvalue. For example, a dimension disclosed as “90°” is intended to mean“about 90°”

It should be understood that every maximum numerical limitation giventhroughout this specification includes every lower numerical limitation,as if such lower numerical limitations were expressly written herein.Every minimum numerical limitation given throughout this specificationwill include every higher numerical limitation, as if such highernumerical limitations were expressly written herein. Every numericalrange given throughout this specification will include every narrowernumerical range that falls within such broader numerical range, as ifsuch narrower numerical ranges were all expressly written herein.

All documents cited in the Detailed Description of the Invention are, inrelevant part, incorporated herein by reference; the citation of anydocument is not to be construed as an admission that it is prior artwith respect to the present invention. To the extent that any meaning ordefinition of a term in this written document conflicts with any meaningor definition of the term in a document incorporated by reference, themeaning or definition assigned to the term in this written documentshall govern.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in theart that various other changes and modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is thereforeintended to cover in the appended claims all such changes andmodifications that are within the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for deforming a precursor web using anapparatus, wherein the precursor web has two surfaces, the processcomprising: a) feeding the precursor web in a machine direction into afirst nip that is formed between a first pair of generally cylindricalmating rolls, said first pair of mating rolls comprising a first rolland a second roll, at least one of said first and second rolls having asurface with forming elements thereon, wherein when said precursor webis fed into said first nip, said precursor web is permanently deformedin a first location to form a first time deformed precursor web; b)feeding the precursor web into a non-permanently deforming intermediatetransfer nip to contact the precursor web and transfer said web to athird nip while substantially maintaining registration of the web,wherein said transfer nip is formed by two transfer nip rolls comprisinga first transfer nip roll and a second transfer nip roll, and said twotransfer nip rolls have a pattern of elements thereon, said elementshaving radially outwardmost portions, wherein the radially outwardmostportions on said first transfer nip roll substantially align with theradially outwardmost portions on said second transfer nip roll; and c)feeding said precursor web into a third nip between a third roll and afourth roll, wherein at least one of said third and fourth rolls hasforming elements on its surface, and when said precursor web is fed intosaid third nip, said precursor web is deformed in a second location inwhich at least some of said forming elements in said third nip deformsaid first-time deformed precursor web at least partially in differentlocations than said precursor web was deformed in said first nip to forma second-time deformed precursor web, wherein said precursor web remainssubstantially in contact with at least one roll at all times along theportion of its length from the location where the web enters the firstnip to the location where the web exits the last nip.
 2. A process fordeforming a precursor web using an apparatus, wherein the precursor webhas two surfaces, the process comprising: a) feeding the precursor webin a machine direction into a first nip that is formed between a firstpair of generally cylindrical mating rolls, said first pair of matingrolls comprising a first roll and a second roll, at least one of saidfirst and second rolls having a surface with forming elements thereon,wherein when said precursor web is fed into said first nip, saidprecursor web is permanently deformed in a first location to form afirst time deformed precursor web; b) feeding the precursor web into anon-permanently deforming intermediate transfer nip to contact theprecursor web and transfer said web to a third nip while substantiallymaintaining registration of the web, wherein said transfer nip is formedby two transfer nip rolls comprising a first transfer nip roll and asecond transfer nip roll, and said two transfer nip rolls have a patternof elements thereon, said elements having radially outwardmost portions,wherein the radially outwardmost portions on said first transfer niproll are offset relative to the radially outwardmost portions on saidsecond transfer nip roll; and c) feeding said precursor web into a thirdnip between a third roll and a fourth roll, wherein at least one of saidthird and fourth rolls has forming elements on its surface, and whensaid precursor web is fed into said third nip, said precursor web isdeformed in a second location in which at least some of said formingelements in said third nip deform said first-time deformed precursor webat least partially in different locations than said precursor web wasdeformed in said first nip to form a second-time deformed precursor web,wherein said precursor web remains substantially in contact with atleast one roll at all times along the portion of its length from thelocation where the web enters the first nip to the location where theweb exits the last nip.
 3. The process of claim 2 wherein the elementson said first transfer nip roll have a pitch therebetween and theelements on said second transfer nip roll have a pitch therebetween, andthe radially outwardmost portions on said first transfer nip roll areoffset relative to the radially outwardmost portions on said secondtransfer nip roll by a distance of about ½ the pitch between theelements on one of said first and second transfer nip rolls.
 4. Aprocess for deforming a precursor web using an apparatus, wherein theprecursor web has two surfaces, the process comprising: a) feeding theprecursor web in a machine direction into a first nip that is formedbetween a first pair of generally cylindrical mating rolls, said firstpair of mating rolls comprising a first roll and a second roll, at leastone of said first and second rolls having a surface with formingelements thereon, wherein when said precursor web is fed into said firstnip, said precursor web is permanently deformed in a first location toform a first time deformed precursor web; b) feeding the precursor webinto a non-permanently deforming intermediate transfer nip to contactthe precursor web and transfer said web to a third nip whilesubstantially maintaining registration of the web wherein said transfernip comprises a first transfer nip that is formed between a pair ofgenerally cylindrical mating rolls, wherein at least one of said rollsforming said first transfer nip has elements on its surface withradially outwardmost portions, and said process further comprisesfeeding the precursor web into a second transfer nip that is formedbetween a pair of generally cylindrical mating rolls wherein at leastone of said rolls forming said second transfer nip has elements on itssurface with radially outwardmost portions, and wherein said secondtransfer nip is disposed between said first transfer nip and said thirdnip to contact the precursor web and transfer said web to said thirdnip; and c) feeding said precursor web into a third nip between a pairof generally cylindrical mating rolls, wherein at least one of saidrolls comprising said third nip has forming elements on its surface, andwhen said precursor web is fed into said third nip, said precursor webis deformed in a second location in which at least some of said formingelements in said third nip deform said first-time deformed precursor webat least partially in different locations than said precursor web wasdeformed in said first nip to form a second-time deformed precursor web,wherein said precursor web remains substantially in contact with atleast one roll at all times along the portion of its length from thelocation where the web enters the first nip to the location where theweb exits the third nip.
 5. The process of claim 4 wherein the rolls inone of the first and second transfer nips are substantially aligned, androlls in the other of the first and second transfer nips are offset, sothat the radially outwardmost portions of the elements on the rolls inthe other transfer nip are offset relative to each other in at least oneof the machine direction and the cross-machine direction.